Friends Again
by CakelessWheatley
Summary: Chell had made it out of Aperture Science alive. She had found a small village nearby and lived a normal life. These were challenges to her. But one challenge she faces is harder than the last two: Deciding whether or not to forgive Wheatley for what he had done to her. Human!Wheatley/Chell Chelly
1. Chapter 1

She had a normal job,a normal apartment,and a normal life.

But, Chell was NOT normal.

She had been tested by a test crazed A.I.,whose tests got harder and harder to solve over the years,and who almost killed her several times,since she was a little girl.

But,then,she had woken up to Wheatley, an amazing core,though who sometimes messed things up.

They were a large mark of color in a white-walled prison.

It almost seemed perfect.

ALMOST.

Everything that had been perfect was over when he took over Aperture.

HER 'itch' over came him. Wheatley was gone. There was no way for him to come back.

She had shot a portal right where she though she couldn't go: The moon. He had begged her to pull her in,but GLaDOS got in the way.

He had been in space for a long while with an annoying core.

Chell had been living a normal life afterwards.

But not anymore.

* * *

CHELL'S POV

Another day at working at my job. I worked at the coffee shop in a little town.

Not many people lived in the town,so most of the time,there were no costumers. Everyone soon found out about the 24 year-old carrying a large,light gray box with a heart on it pretty quickly. It didn't help that I was mute,giving the people more and more to talk about behind my back.

On one slow day at work,there was an odd man in the shop.

Pretty tall,maybe being around 5"11,with light blond hair and shockingly bright blue eyes that seemed quite dull. Clothes wrinkled and slightly dirty,he had just walked in,sat down,and stayed there for a couple of hours with his head in his hands.

Two hours after he sat down,I was told by my friend Sara to ask him if he wanted any coffee.

Writing it down quickly onto a piece of paper, I stepped over to him cautiously and tapped his shoulder. His head snapped over to whoever tapped his shoulder,who was me. Peering over at me over the tops of the glasses he wore,in which I had not noticed,he took in that I was a worker here and sighed. "Yes?" He asked me in a Bristolian accent,which seemed so... _familiar_.

I handed him the note,and he eyed me again. "Why didn't you tell me this yourself,instead of on a piece of paper?" I shook my head, wrote a note down,and gave it to him. "Mute,eh?" He questioned,reading my note. I nodded to answer his question. "I had a friend who was mute,once. Helped her get where she wanted,that I did. And,you know what? She helped me,too." He sighed and shook his head. "I got in charge of everything,after a while. Nearly killed her and the person who was in charge at the time. Was angry almost all the time..." He trailed off,and if almost seemed that his eyes had gotten duller. "Anyway," He continued on with the story, "everything got better for her. She got me to go away. That's what's she was the happiest thing about,I bet..."

I sucked in a breath quickly and his eyes darted to me. No. No,it can't be him. It just _can't_.

I took a step back towards the door,then another one,and ran out the door,my ponytail slapping my back.

Nonononono. Not him. Anyone but _him_!

Running through the streets,I had to swivel around confused people to get home. I could hear him behind me,calling out. "Uh,Miss? Miss,what's wrong? Was it something I said?"

I ran, and ran, and ran until I reached my apartment complex,and I slammed the door in his face. I heard a loud "OW!" in response,and I felt a pang of sadness for him for a second,and then it was gone.

Lifting the curtain, I saw him rubbing his nose, his glasses on the verge of falling off. His eyes darted over to the name plate on who lives here,and then the window,seeing me. "Miss...? Do I... Do I know you?" He said,slightly muffled. I quickly closed it and slumped against the door in relief.

Thank God. He didn't realize it was me. Or,maybe he did,in the back of his mind. It _had_ been 3 years since I last saw him,but as a core. _'__How did he become human?_ I thought. _How did he get out of space? How did-'_ My head spun,and I put it in hands.

Slowly standing up,I pulled open the door,grabbed him by the arm,hauled him up the stairs and into my apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's note: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews and such. ^^ Anyway, so, August, thanks for pointing out the comma mistake and about how Wheatley was rushing. I hope I fix everything up in this chapter. Now, onto the story!**_

* * *

WHEATLEY'S P.O.V.

As I stood nervously,the unknown woman glared at me. Then,she suddenly pulled a notepad and pencil out of her pocket,writing something down. She handed it to it me.

_Okay,Wheatley. How the _hell_ did you become human? And,also on the topic of you,how did you get back from space?!_

I stared at her.

There was silence before I asked."...Chell?" She nodded and crossed her arms across her chest. "Oh God,Chell!" I nearly leapt at her,hugging fiercely. I felt her tense up under my hug. Then,I was suddenly crying on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm so,so sorry. It wasn't me,I promise. It was HER 'itch',not mine. All I thought of was testing,testing,testing,that thought never leaving my I was in space-" She pushed me away and I heard a slight growl in the back of her throat. "Ch-Chell?" I was taken back. What had HAPPENED to her when I went crazy?

She grabbed her notebook off of the table,writing furiously.

_Why are you _here_!? I thought you were in space!_

"Well,I was but,uh-" She cut me off by shoving her notebook in my face.

_Explain everything _now_._

"Uh,sure,luv... Well,you know the story of me floating around in space for a while. Then,out of the blue,SHE had me back in Aperture! She put me in this... this machine and all I felt was pain! When I opened my optic,I had two! It was livid! Took me a while for me to get used to using legs and arms,but when I did,she shoved a portal gun in my hand and had me solve tests! After I tested,she put me in a lift without the portal gun and I was outside. Oh,and could I _smell!_ There was this tall plant wherever I looked,and it smelled _amazing!_ I think it was called..." I trailed off when I saw her laughing silently. Chell _never_ laughed,or barely smiled for that matter. "Luv,w-why are you laughing?" She held up a finger for me to wait for her to catch her breath and wrote something down.

_It's just the thought of you testing. Jesus,Wheatley. Is _that_ why it took you so long to get to me?_

I felt my face heat up and I looked away. "Um,well... I guess..." I said quietly.

* * *

CHELL'S P.O.V.

Hearing his story had made me laugh, not because of his ramblings, but because it was _him_ rambling. I suddenly realized just how long I had last seen my friend/enemy.

_Three years..._ I thought. _Three years since I had last seen him._

"Chell..." His voice was like a child's, trying not to get into trouble with his parents. "I'd like you to know that... That you were all I could think of up there in space. I thought of how sorry I was, how I wished I could just see you again..."

I felt my face heat up slightly, but most likely not enough for him to notice. Carefully, I wrote out a question that had been in my mind for a while now.

_Wheatley, when I wrote that I was mute... Why did you say all that? About what happened? I could have just been a random person who was mute..._

He shrugged slightly.

"It somehow felt... _right_ to say it. I don't know why, but deep down, it just felt right to tell you..." Wheatley ran a hand through his grimy hair and sighed. "Sorry for making you run away,luv... I just was tired and careless and I had felt terrible..." I nodded,mouthing that I understood.

My legs suddenly seemed like lead as I talked to him, so I walked around him and sat down onto the couch,patting the cushin next to me for him to sit.

Looking at me curiously, he sat down a bit too close for comfort, and I scooted away.

After a long silence, Wheatley was the one who broke the awkwardness. "So,um,were you always mute or...?" I shook my head and a look of surprise shot across his face. "No? What happened?"

_I chose not to speak in response to HER, only responding with hand signs, which had made her quite angry,_ I wrote. _So,she had flooded the room I was in with this knockout gas,and the last thing I remember hearing was,"You won't speak for me? Well, then, guess we'll have to fix that...'_ I took a deep breath and continued to write.

_The next time I woke up in the room, when I tried to speak, only some sounds came out. I thought it was almost a dream come true, no more talking, no more yelling. But then you came along, making me wish I could speak again, just to tell you what had happened..._

There was silence once again as I looked at everything besides him.

"Ah..." Was all he said


	3. Chapter 3

**WHEATLEY'S P.O.V.**

It was quiet for such a long time, even with my constant ramblings, it was the quietest I had ever heard. And that was saying something, since I had spent all of my life as a core in Aperture Science, where everywhere you went, there was a constant thrum of machine.

But here, all there was to listen to was our soft breathing.

I tried to keep a conversation going, but Chell had ended writing anything down since she told me how she became mute. I had finally become at a loss for words.

Occasionally, Chell had looked at the time, and every single she had sighed silently.

Also, she had once gone into what I assumed was a kitchen and made what she called 'tea'.

It wasn't half bad, really.

How long she had been living here, I had asked to get rid of some awkwardness in the room.

Three years, she had replied.

Suddenly, it was 10:30. I found myself yawning and slowly drifting off to sleep, only to be woken by Chell, who had apparently gotten up and picked up a pillow and some blankets for me.

"You want me to stay the night here?" I asked, doubt covering the curiosity in my voice.

_Why did she want me to sleep here? Why-_

With a swift nod and a shrug, she dropped the pillows on top of the seat next to me and walked away, yawning and stretching silently. I understood perfectly where she wanted me to sleep: On the uncomfortable couch, of which my legs hung over the side of whenever I laid down on it.

Sighing softly, I placed the pillow at one end, laid down, and put the covers on top. It may have been uncomfortable, but hell, you could fall asleep so quickly on that thing if you were the one who had trudged through wheat all day.

Dreams (or maybe they were nightmares?) flooded my head that night.

I had been with Chell, but I had been a core, unable to do anything besides sliding along my management rail. I had felt everything as if they were happening right at that moment.

I cried out in pain as she crushed my core body.

I laughed in relief as I saw my friend again.

I felt angry as I didn't feel the amazing feeling I had felt in the first chamber.

I was amazed at how quickly she could complete the test chambers.

I was scared when I felt her grip loosen.

I was annoyed at Space for being so loud when we were in that vast area of nothing-ness.

I was slightly frightened as I saw HER through a portal as SHE plucked me right out of there with a metal clamp, leaving the other cores out there.

I felt uncomfortable pain throught my body as I was plugged in the machine...

And then I was human.

Everything had made my head hurt worse. My _head_, for god's sake! I'd never had a head before.

But bloody hell, everything made it hurt more, from the bright white of the test chamber, to the feeling of the cold floor underneath my trembling body. Well, at least I wasn't naked, as I heard that was NOT a good thing to be when there were other test subjects.

My head swam, making it hurt worse. _Was Chell, still here? Was she even _alive_-_

Oh god.

What if she wasn't!? What if-

"OW!" I got hit in the head with something large and VERY portal gun-like.

Bloody hell, that hurt! Hesitantly, I put a shaky hand where I got hit.

Okay, good. No blood, I think. Just a large bump. Nothing too life threatn-

I heard a mechanical chuckle come from the intercom.

You have GOT to be bloody kidding me.

"Hey, moron." GLaDOS spoke, a hint of pride in her voice. Let me guess, her pride was for putting a murderous core into a smelly human body.

I gave no response.

"Oh, come on. I know you can hear me, _and_ you can respond. Stop acting like you can't."

There was silence before I questioned her as I stood up hesitaintly, my legs wobbling underneath me.

"Why am I a... human? If you wanted another test subject, you could've gotten Rick. He's always ready for adventure."

"You're right," She spoke calmy but surely, like she was speaking to a child. "I could've left you in space and gotten the other three cores, leaving you to float around, alone, forever. But, no. I wanted to see to it that you had enough misery to last a lifetime. Not a human lifetime, of course. But an A.I.'s lifetime. Specifically, my lifetime, which will last a _very_ long time, I will assure you."

Everything turned to darkness, then there was a long while of very painful testing.

**CHELL'S P.O.V.**

I couldn't sleep at all.

My mind kept replaying me running away from him, the look of curiousity and regret in his eyes right before I took off, and so many smaller things that only I could point out that would only make me act this way.

_Trust him. He was one your friend once._ A small voice spoke out in my head.

Well, that IS true, but notice how there's a nice little word called 'was' in that sentence? Although, I'd like to trust him, I'm afraid of what'll happen if I do...

Through all of those thoughts, I managed to gain some sleep. I did have to work tommorow.

What was I going to do with that idiot in the morning?

Why did I even let him stay here?

Why...


End file.
